Liverpool cult hero is in EXILE and is training alone – but has to remain in Italy for tax reasons

A former Liverpool striker is in a unique position, having to remain at his current club – where he hasn’t featured in over a year – in order to benefit from tax regulations in Italy. 

The player moved to AC Milan at the end of 2021-22 when his contract at Anfield expired, having spent seven seasons at the Premier League outfit where he earned cult hero status. 

While not a regular feature at Liverpool, the striker would contribute some of the most important goals in the Jurgen Klopp era. 

Yet now, just over two years out from his Anfield exit, Divock Origi finds himself exiled from AC Milan. 

The Belgian international is training on his own, not even with the reserves at the Rossoneri, conducting his sessions with a personal trainer. 

In fact, Origi’s last game in a red and black shirt came almost 18 months ago, featuring in AC Milan’s penultimate Serie A game of the 2022-23 campaign. 

Origi earned himself cult hero status at Liverpool after his brace against Barcelona in the Champions League

He did spend last term on loan with Nottingham Forest, but failed to ingratiate himself with the bosses at AC Milan, and finds himself out on the periphery at the Italian giants. 

According to a report in July, Zlatan Ibrahimovic had made it clear that the Belgian will no part in Milan’s first-team plans this season.

‘Divock Origi and Fode Ballo-Toure are not part of our plans,’ he said. ‘They will be part of the youth team as they’re not included in our project.’

In some cases a player in such a situation might look to force through a move to get back to playing regular football, but Origi’s arm is reportedly twisted by Italian tax laws. 

According to Italy’s growth decree, which offers tac benefits to foreign workers, the Belgian striker has to remain in the country for at least six months of the year. 

This comes despite the fact that the Italian giants reportedly have no intention to bring him back into the fold. 

His contract is also unlikely to be terminated given the Rossoneri are thought to be paying Origi around £277,000-a-month, or £3.24million-a-year on his contract that runs until the end of 2025-26. 

That contract though has been made to look an increasingly questionable decision from AC Milan’s recruitment team. 

Origi has not played for the Italian giants since the penultimate game of the 2022-23 campaign

Origi scored 41 goals in his 175 games for Liverpool before leaving on a free transfer in 2022

In only 36 appearances – a total of 1,187 minutes – he has scored just twice and assisted only one goal for the Italian giants. 

That ratio of a goal every 593.5 minutes stands in stark comparison to his minutes-per-goal at Liverpool, where he was a squad player for most of his career, but struck on average once every 169.7 minutes.

Milan legend and former director Paolo Maldini had claimed he could be a ‘great footballer’ and the club brought him in on the second-highest wage behind Rafael Leao on a free transfer. 

Yet while Leao has blossomed and gone on to become the leading force at AC Milan, Origi’s time at the Serie A side has seemingly had the opposite impact on his career.